Student strength goes up, MCD faces teacher crunch

Even as the figures of students in primary schools — run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) —have been increasing following implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the civic agency is still facing shortage of teachers.

Though on an average, the number of students studying in schools run by the MCD has increased to 50 in each class, the civic agency has not been able to recruit new teachers. This has increased burden on teachers who have been asked to work in shifts.

At present, the schools are facing a shortage of 6,500 teachers. There are a total of 20,000 teachers, of which, 16,000 are permanent staffers and 4,000 are working on contractual basis.

“We are implementing the RTE for which more teachers are required as the number of students in each school has increased significantly. We have asked the Staff Selection Board (SSB) to recruit more teachers for which applications have been invited,” said Mahender Nagpal, chairman, education committee of the MCD.

“We are hoping to recruit new teachers under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which will also help us tide over shortage of staff problem,” he added.

MCD officials said they were facing a huge problem as teachers, recruited on contract basis, left their jobs on getting a permanent job elsewhere.

The civic agency is also mulling to increase the sections of each class, but has been unable to do so due to staff crunch. “We don't have enough teachers to look after the new sections,” said a senior MCD official.